It’s been very quiet around these parts lately.

I mean, there’s the idiotic anti-graffiti campaign that Robbie is attempting to resurrect, a “war” that the overweight fool will never win. There’s also Ford’s ill-advised yet completely expected nose-sticking into provincial politics in the now-successful campaign of Doug Holyday, which leaves Ford without an underling should something happen to him.

And that possibility is looking more likely now with the un-quieting news that Mohamed Siad, the guy who originally showed Gawker the Rob Ford crack video and was subsequently arrested in the massive June raid on the Dixon Road apartments, has offered it up to the cops in exchange for a plea deal.

To devout Fordites this will probably still all come across as pure fiction, despite the fact that well-known Toronto lawyer Warren Kinsella has weighed in, claiming that he’s certain that the video is most definitely real, has been seen by many people, and is now floating around between the courts and lawyers.

To quote:

Here’s what I know:

• Siad possessed the video.
• The police got the video when they arrested him, using a search warrant.
• The Crown office was then given the video.
• The Crown disclosed the video to lawyer Brown. He has it.

… the video is in the hands of many people, now. And it has been seen by many more. And it shows Rob Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

Keep in mind that Warren is a lawyer, and a well-known one at that, so he has a lot to lose by making knowingly false statements. Besides, how many people have now publicly, and to much flack and derision from Fordites, stated that yes, the video is real, and yes, that sure as hell looks and sounds like Ford smoking what looks like crack?

Even staunch Ford supporters like the Sun are no longer calling into question the existence of the crack “tape” and are now switching to the “but how do you know it’s crack?” deflections. That’s not unlike demanding that the recent shooting of Sammy Yatim by the cops is fiction because you weren’t there to witness it. It’s a good thing that the court system operates around evidence.

Let’s be clear: the Ford crack video is real, no doubt about that. It’s very certain that it is in fact Rob Ford smoking whatever substance he’s seen to be smoking in that video. And that substance, based on everything we know about Ford, is very likely crack cocaine.

The only question that remains is, will justice ever be done?

With the Rob Ford crack “tape” seemingly lost forever, people are starting to get antsy. “Where is it?”, they’re rightfully asking. “Without it, who knows if it’s even real!”

Not precisely correct, but still, it’d be good to have a gander at that video, wouldn’t it?

And about that not being correct part, consider this for a moment; many crimes didn’t have video cameras, or good enough video evidence, to prove that they ever took place. So does that mean that all you need to do is to take someone out into a back alley and it’s your word against theirs?

In a court, that wouldn’t be the end of it. There’s this stuff called corroborating evidence — not proof, but strong hints — and in the absence of any recorded evidence we have … eye witnesses.

People tend to forget about this type of sworn evidence: people who actually saw the event in question.

Now I already know what the Ford supporters are saying: “But these are unnamed sources claiming this! Plus they’re drug dealers! Plus they’re lefties!”

Unnamed?

Poppycock!

There are at least five publicly named sources at this point — the reporters themselves — who have claimed (on record, no less), that they saw the video with their own eyes. In court, they’d be witnesses.

Drug dealers?

I doubt it. But the people who claim to own the video, probably yes. Does that mean that those people (the witnesses and the drug dealers are not to be conflated), were able to use their ill-gotten drug money to make up a sensational video? If you believe that Santa comes down your chimney every year, you might buy this one too. Does that therefore make the video fake? Highly unlikely.

Finally, is there any other corroborating evidence to link Ford to drugs? You bet there is. And there’s motive in what the mayor is currently doing too.

Seems to me that with five public and named sources, the likelihood of the video existing being high, the likelihood of the video being fake being low, the fact that not only is the whole thing believable but also likely, and finally, that everything that the Fords have subsequently done points to a clear motive — it all sounds like a pretty solid case to me.

Ford’s defense: his flaccid word.

Rob, in proper Ford fashion, continued to stay mum and ignore the swelling crack scandal, and has instead decided to fire his chief of staff of just 10 months, Mark Towhey.

The firing was likely pretty sudden and not terribly congenial as Towhey was escorted out of City Hall by security. Rumours are that it had something to do with football, but it’s hard to imagine what exactly that could be.

This is Rob’s second chief of staff in as many years, and is in line with the Fords’ disdain for pretty much everyone and everything that doesn’t lick their shoes.

It should be noted that the choice of the mayor’s chief of staff is well within Ford’s purview, so I’m not suggesting that he did anything wrong or illegal, but there’s obviously a tempest brewing behind the scenes, and we all know who’s providing the hot air for that storm.

Shit’s about to get real!

This is what Sarah and I been hoping for for a long time. If you’re wondering why, just do a search for “Rob Ford” for a smattering of the crap that the man has loosed upon Toronto.

Unfortunately, the scrutiny and media attention are so fierce (and global), that Sarah has had to diminish her enthusiasm to a great extent (her Multiple Sclerosis takes a big hit with intense emotion). Nevertheless, we’re both keen to see this thing follow through, video evidence and all. (and how about a drug test?)

So needless to say, we discuss Rob Ford regularly, and we try to bounce ideas about his “shortcomings” off each other — the kinds of things big/mainstream media are not willing to touch.

One of the issues, now that the scandal has exploded and the shrapnel is coming back down to earth, is Ford’s refusal to deal with any of the allegations directly. Of course, we’re not the only ones to notice this, but so far nobody’s speculating about why this is the case.

I suppose that’s fine because it gives us something to ruminate over, though it certainly does make the media seem like “lame ducks”.

So the conclusion that we came to is somewhat simple and probably pretty obvious: Ford doesn’t want any additional scrutiny on the scandal because he’s afraid of all the damaging facts that may emerge — and for good reason!

When you consider this in the context of Ford scandals (the Florida drinking and driving charge, the drunken tirade at a Leafs’ game, etc.) it makes perfect sense. No matter how many times Ford tried pointing the finger at the media for unearthing these unfortunate incidents, and moreover, vehemently and aggressively denying them, it eventually turned out that he was the one lying, openly, on camera, and on record. Repeatedly, unapologetically, and overtly.

In fact, there hasn’t really been a single Ford scandal that’s been shown to be untrue — so why are we expected to believe a known public liar like Rob Ford now?

Drug dealers may not necessarily be the most reliable sources, but given Ford’s track record of nearly 100% lies and denials, plus that little thing of the clear-as-day video evidence, not to mention all those additional rumours, make their story seem a whole lot more convincing than Ford’s singular and exclusive rebuttal of “ridiculous!”

So now that the latest scandal has emerged — and let’s face it, this one’s a doozie — it’s no wonder Ford is refusing to answer any questions, launch any lawsuits, or challenge any of the assertions except to call them ridiculous. It also explains why Ford insists that it’s him who should be taken to court when he’s being libeled and misrepresented.

I mean, it’s either that, or the man is a complete idiot. I suppose that could be the case too, but such abject incompetence is yet another reason why Rob Ford is in no way fit to be mayor of what is otherwise a fantastic and thriving city.

It was over a year ago that Sarah and I first heard about Rob Ford’s cocaine habit, and there have been a series of very strong hints since that we were onto something.

But yesterday evening, John Cook of the unabashed website Gawker posted probably the best evidence yet of Ford’s drug abuse. And what’s more, he’s standing behind everything he claims.

If you haven’t read the story yet, I’ll save you the trouble: some time within the last 6 months, Ford was caught on someone’s cell phone smoking crack with a group of people, chuckling at off-colour comments, and just generally being unmayorly.

The tale behind the video is a bit twisted, but basically the guy who shot it and showed it to John Cook wants to sell it for “six figures”, which makes me think it may never see the light of day (see additional comments below). But efforts are afoot nonetheless.

The Taiwanese animated news agency NMA took a few liberties with the story (plus a few other choice Ford incidents), but they’re not far off the mark:

Of course, Ford denied the whole thing right away, taking the opportunity to flaunt his ignorance and demonize the Toronto Star while simultaneously ignoring reporters’ comments that the story actually came via Gawker. But that’s par for the course for Robbie.

A little birdie told me that behind the scenes, Ford has issued a hefty bounty on whoever’s in possession of the video. Considering that one of the people in the recording, Anthony Smith (the guy on the left in the photo above), was gunned down outside a Toronto nightclub earlier this year, that bounty probably has an “alive or dead” rider.

Rumours are also flying that Ford is proving to be too much of an embarrassment to Harper’s Criminal, erm, Conservative dynasty, so Fordo is now feeling the squeeze from both ends. I’m sure Harper isn’t upset that Ford is a law-breaking, rude, incompetent scumbag, it’s that he’s making the Conservative tyranny look bad before it can accomplish its mission.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t really give much of a toss whether or not Rob snorts coke or civet droppings, it’s the fact that he’s a mayor who is openly breaking the law left right and center (not to mention admitting to not knowing how to do his job), that’s the clincher.

It’s time for Ford to go (jail would be a good start), and to take the rest of his Conservative cronies with him.

The Star’s Robyn Doolittle seems to be gunning close to the core Rob Ford issue of the moment: his alcohol / drug abuse. Not terribly surprising given both the rumours and some earlier contacts (this date last year, in fact):

The story, apparently, is that Rob made another slovenly mess of himself at a war veteran’s charity ball, and had to be shown out.

Three members of the Garrison Ball organizing committee said Ford was asked to leave because he appeared impaired. One said, “he seemed either drunk, high or had a medical condition.”

Doolittle goes on to name a variety of sadly but understandably anonymous (all fearing the mayor’s wrath),  sources who detail the alcoholism that Rob Ford is “battling with” (seems like a warm embrace to me, but that’s just my take). Some of the guest descriptions of Ford from the military ball, however, should remind us that there’s probably more than alcohol involved:

“incoherent,” “stumbling,” “rambling,” “intoxicated,” “slurring,” “seemed to be drunk,” “was nervous, excited, sweaty, out of it.”

I’ve had my fair share of alcohol, and I can’t say that I’ve ever been nervous or excited. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I know that Fordites are going to cling to their main mass no matter what, but to the rest of us, doesn’t it seem like maybe it’s time for a random drug test? And before anyone raises a fuss about inequality, I’d definitely be in favour of all the Councillors taking one.

You’ve probably read the hubbub about the US’ use of drones in Afghanistan.

In case you haven’t, drones are the unmanned, remote controlled planes that the US has taken a liking to in order to kill people abroad with basically no risk to their own personnel. And the Americans are killing lots of innocent people in their incessant search for those scary terrorists. Lots.

Obama even has an extra-judicial “kill list” for the people he feels need to get blowed up real good.

Obviously, with Al Qaeda hiding in people’s assholes, it’s necessary to bring a barrage of indiscriminate hell fire down on those turban-wearing heathen overseas (and put electroshock collars on any suspicious Americans at home, just in case) .

Those terrorists sure are scary, aren’t they? So are all those criminals lurking just outside everyone’s doors in the bushes. That’s why it’s necessary for the TSA pedophiles (sorry, “authorities”), to rape (sorry, “search”) you at random anywhere you may go now, and why it’s also become necessary to deploy those drones domestically. And of course they need to be armed (despite assurance to the contrary).

Okay, so why am I talking about this?

Well, a blog post I wrote earlier this year seems to really be hitting a nerve with readers, and I think those same readers would be shocked to see what’s just around the corner right here in Canada (the stuff I mentioned in that post is just a drop in the bucket).

Although I don’t like to discuss bummer subjects like this, it’s best we all get to collectively standing up against the crap that Harper and his Conservative buddies have in store for us (to be fair, the Liberals are just an arm of the same group of criminals these days).

You see, biggie defense contractor Raytheon put in a bid, a while back, with the Canadian military, which was actively seeking its own fleet of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). On the surface, this might seem like a good thing — we gotta bomb the shit out of Afghanistan, don’t we? Even if you agree with that, you have to question where exactly those UAVs would be used since Peter MacKay announced (about half a year back), that we’re getting out of Afghanistan.

It would’ve been speculation, of course, that UAVs would be used domestically here in Canada in the same capacity as in the US, without some sort of official-sounding documentation. I figured the government’s own website would be fairly official:

Beyond Afghanistan:

A long term UAV solution, in the form of the Joint UAV Surveillance Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) Program, is currently being developed that will include domestic and deployed operational UAV capabilities.

By the way, you may want to have a look at, and save, the link soon: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/mobil/news-nouvelles-eng.asp?id=2719. When I originally researched this story, I had linked to the desktop version of that tidbit and it’s since mysteriously disappeared.

Of course, the story doesn’t end with announcements for future plans. The Canadian military is in full swing and purchasing fully weaponized UAVs for a variety of missions (to be deployed at home at some point, keep in mind).

But at least the domestic deployment not happening yet, is it?

Of course it is.

RCMP are now deploying their drones over Manitoba, claiming they’re just for monitoring traffic accidents and dangerous situations. Maybe the drones are actually for those pesky environmental “terrorists”? They’re already flying in Ontario looking for drugs, which is an excuse to do just about anything these days. And yes, it’s both law enforcement and military flying the sky-bound killing machines for use right here in Canada and abroad (including places pretty far away from Afghanistan).

In fact, if you do a search on Google, it’s a good bet that you’ll find plenty of additional information that I missed — it’s almost commonplace now (if you’ve been paying attention).

And do I believe that these things will be deployed over Toronto any time soon? I’d be shocked to hear that they haven’t been buzzing my apartment for quite some time now. And that goes for every atrocious activity that the US is engaged in domestically too — Harper’s track record demonstrates he gets all wet at the mere thought of it all.

Surveillance and possible death from above, unlicensed proctology from below — the future sounds like a big ball of fun!

It’s been a while since the Toronto mayoral race had a scandal, don’t you think, dear reader?

The last one toppled Adam Giambrone, reducing Jammers to a sobbing wreck as he was delivering his stepping-down speech. To be honest, we all kinda saw that one coming, didn’t we? Young guy, in politics since he was in diapers; he was overdue for a political misstep. According to the Toronto’s Sexiest Councillor poll (you haven’t voted yet?), he gives most of the councillors a run for their money, and even I’ll grudgingly concede that he’s a fairly good-looking guy, so the fact that it was a sex scandal that took him out (the standard had sex with another woman kind), really didn’t come as a surprise.

The latest one involving Rob Ford, however, was a bit of a surprise. To say it came out of left field would be a bit of an understatement.

Seems Rob got himself tangled up with a Dieter Doneit-Henderson (first name pronounced “Deeter”, second like “doughnut”), a gay guy with Fibromyalgia living somewhere on the west end of the city. From what I could glean; just outside of Rob’s electoral district anyway.

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Doesn’t it seem like the west end is always getting new stuff?

Like just the other day they got new pay shitters. On top of the novelty of $0.25, self-cleaning toilets, residents get the added bonus of getting to watch tourists peepee dance as they hunt for change.

On the east end alls we got now is scrub brush, mounds of dirt, and a bunch of factories.

Kinda ironic considering this section of town predates the west end. And over there they’ve got the Island Airport which Porter Airlines has nicened up considerably (so far, it seems, not abusing their monopoly), the Music Garden, not to mention the Harbourfront Centre and all the artsy shit it barfs up on the shores of Lake Ontario.

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